I'd been looking around for toy patterns that I could use and finally found this one that I really liked - the size of the finished doll is about 11 inches tall. I don't have that much imagination so I pretty much copied the colour combination, etc.

Initally was a little worried about getting the face right (this is like my 2nd soft toy) but thankfully the eyes didn't come out lopsided!

I had a terrible time with the red binding, because the colour of the fabric ran ALOT (I prewashed it many times) and I ended up handsewing the binding as the fabric layers kept slipping on my machine (I used a regular industrial sewing machine). This is my 2nd attempt with patchwork/quilting.

*edit*thank you for all your kind comments, and colour run-prevention tips! and yes, I knew when I started that I didn't want a pastel-ly or pink quilt.

This is for my friend's daughter's 3rd birthday - I wanted to give her something special, so I thought I'd make her a tote bag. This is really simple and I finished it in about 1.5 - 2 hours. The outside is an IKEA floral dishtowel I bought sometime back, and the inside and straps are cotton gingham.

The little girl's name is danielle, so I included a felt "D" to make it truly hers!

Knowing that I craft, my friend passed me a whole stash of her grandma's vintage fabric scraps. In return, I decided to use the scraps to make her a patchwork blanket. It's for her baby girl, who is due in October. I spent quite a lot of time working out the colour combination and the placement of various pieces.

The blanket has light quilting batting in between, and flannel for the back so that it will be comfortable for the baby. Initially I wanted to attempt to quilt it, but after reading up on quilting, it sounded too daunting plus it called for a "walkiing footer" (?) which I don't have.

To keep the batting in place, I stitched 2 squares, 1 about 1.5" from the edge of the blankie and another right in the centre so it has a slight "quilted" look. This is super easy and doesn't need anything special other than your standard sewing machine.

This was my first time doing patchwork - it went off quite smoothly largely because I did a lot of planning and measurements beforehand. I plotted the pattern based on a 2" by 2" grid and then made the templates for each fabric piece (total 77 pieces). It took me a total of 2 (long) nights and an afternoon to finish. I was surprised because I expected it to take a lot more time! It's also been a while since I've sewn, so I was a little worried that I might be going in over my head but I had such fun doing it! Now I can't wait to wrap it up and give it away!

I'm going to be making another one soon, because my own baby is coming in November

On my couch

Orange flannel on the flip side

Closeup of each patchwork square; includes vintage eyelet and calico fabric

It's been a while since I had a 24" waist.... But I certainly LOVE that skirt! LIke wow, that skirt really lays nice! Would that be about mid-calf? Would work real well for fall with black knee high boots and a black jacket!

Don't think I *ever* had a 24" waist! Actually the skirt falls to slightly pass the knee.